This summer in Haverhill there was a frightening incident with a woman who was walking her dog in a wooded area and was aggressively challenged by a pack of coyotes. Today we heard news of a terrible and exceptionally rare tragedy of a young woman hiking in Canada killed by coyotes.

In recent days residents of Groveland, West Newbury and Merrimac have sent e-mail messages offering warning that coyote sightings are increasing. I have appreciated these messages and have enhanced my awareness when I am on my excursions in the local woods. My experiences have been limited to sightings of nocturnal animals such as skunks and foxes dashing across a path. I also had a coyote standing in the backyard a couple of years ago. We stared each other down, and he won.

When this occurs during daylight, it can be a problem because a nocturnal hunter appearing in daylight could possibly be rabid and highly unpredictable.

I'd be kidding you if I said I wouldn't feel threatened, outright scared if I had such an "encounter." I grew up in the city, so I suppose a mean-looking and erratically acting squirrel that might be rabid could send me packing. Yesterday I refused to go into the backyard. There were a dozen wild turkeys picking at the vegetation on the edges of my property. Now THOSE guys are really frightening because they chased me down a few years ago. (They must have a serious attitude problem with Thanksgiving approaching.) The Stoneham and Franklin park zoos were my only animal encounters during my childhood.

Just for a moment consider the animal's perspective as winter approaches. There is need for food. Establishing and perhaps expanding territory for survival might also be prudent. When they hunt in packs, their numbers most likely boost their confidence in attacking prey larger than themselves (i.e., deer, not humans).

The realities are these: There are very few documented cases of humans attacked, injured or killed by coyotes, despite the recent tragedy. However, as winter approaches, they can become more aggressive and have threatened or attacked small pets. Children of any age, especially very young, are vulnerable. There have been documented cases where children and pets were threatened with adults nearby, which demonstrates very unusual boldness. This is rare.

Let's face it, folks. A lot of us reading this article were not born in the "boonies." We are therefore crashing the coyote's world. The animal does not have an inherent desire to harm humans and generally considers an adult as an insurmountable foe no matter how hungry or how large the "pack" is.

All we can and should do is act like good "country folk" and exercise caution.

Take this advice from a former city kid and back yourself up with information available on the Web. Just search for "coyotes, humans attacked." There are also excellent sources of information from government/wildlife resources. Here are some of my findings:

Don't leave pets leashed in the backyard.

Don't leave pet food outdoors.

Don't try to shelter, feed or water outdoor animals (except birds).

When you take your dog for a walk, obey leash laws.

Don't provoke or taunt animals.

Keep your children close and in view. If you can prevent it, don't let your young ones play in the backyard.

And lastly, don't howl like a coyote. They know you're not one of them, but they might come around to see why their two-legged neighbor is acting silly (or like a relative of the donkey).

At this point, it's safe to say that from the coyote's perspective, we're the skittish and unpredictable ones.

¢¢¢

Joe D'Amore of Groveland is a free-lance writer, story-teller and speaker (damorecos@earthlink.net).